Vanessa Joy, a transgender member for the Ohio House who was barred from running on ballots under her lawful name rather than her first, has lost her charm.
According to a law passed years ago mandating that all candidates list any name changes within five years on their personal petitions, the Stark County Board of Elections decided not to allow her to run for office.
Following the vote, Joy told WEWS/OCJ, “Heartbreaking is the term I may use for it.”
Tuesday afternoon, Joy attempted to speak at the board meeting but was informed that it wouldn’t accomplish much because the vote had already been cast.
She is one of the at least three transgender women vying for position office. Each is rushing to combat the rising tide of anti-trans policy.
It’s obvious that not many people were aware of this law, so I’ll have to start a petition to issue it, she said.
She claimed that because the two other transgender individuals were certified for the ballot, the law wasn’t also applied pretty.
Joy continued, “Ohio has actually used this laws against me and only me.”
Joy contacted Statehouse columnist Morgan Trau last week to discuss her predicament. She gathered all the names she required to run for House District 50, which included Stark County, and was supposed to be a Democrat applicant.
Even though Joy officially changed her name and birth certificate, which she gave to the state board, the legislation forbade her from running as a result of the name change.
In addition to not being listed anywhere on the complaint, it is also not listed in the secretary of state’s 2024 member manual. In recent years, it hasn’t appeared on any participant guides.
WEWS/OCJ contacted the company with a number of defining inquiries, such as why the name change isn’t listed in the 33-page link, but received no response.
Although at least two of the other trans candidates running didn’t know the law and omitted their deceased names, both were approved by their respective boards. There is currently a rally against her nomination.
Under a content-sharing contract, this essay, which was first published on News5Cleveland.com, is now available in the Ohio Capital Journal. It is owned by WEWS in Cleveland, so unlike other OCJ content, it is not available for free promulgation by various news sources.
